Modification of b. a. type wools



Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE MODIFICATION OF B. A. TYP.E.WOOI2S Stuart; E. Swanson, Sufiield; Conn., assignor to Bigelow-Sanford- Gal-pet Go Inc Thompson;- ville, Conn a, corporation of Massachusetts Serial No. 189,683

No Drawing. Application October 11,1950;

3,. Glaims.

This invention relates toytreatmentof the soft,

silk-like, B. A.-type:wools;,f e. g., wools from the tional carpet wools.

The object of the invention is to delustre, harshenandv plumpen the fibers of such soft Wools and thereby to extend their usein the manufacture of pile floor coverings.

Hitherto it has not been possible, because of their soft slippery natur and their tendency to cre'atestatic, to. process these B; d-type wool-s by conventional. carpet manufacturing machines and procedures: as, the. pile. of rugs and. carpets or to mix desired quantities. of such wool with. he harsher and coarser wools in such manufacture.

I have discovered that by treating these soft, silk-like lustrous, slippery E. A-.type Wools with an. acid aqueoussuspension of hydrated zirconia, preferably in a bathcontaining the hydrated zirconia, the fibers of" these wools are rendered harsher, coarser and fuller or bushier so that they may be handled by the methods conventional in the carpet manufacturing industry, in which methods the coarser and hardier conventional carpet wools are used. Also, at the same time, the lustre of said fibers, which is undesirable in conventional domestic rugs and carpets, is decreased.

An example of my treatment is as follows: A batch of raw B. A. wool stock weighing about 900 pounds is immersed in an aqueous acidic suspension of 18 pounds of hydrated zirconia in about 4,000 gallons of water. The bath is brought to the boil and the wool exposed to th action of the hot hydrated zirconia suspension during which operation the wool will absorb substantially the entire zirconia content of the bath. If desired, the liquor may be brought to the boil before the hydrated zirconia is added.

Conveniently, the wool may be subjected to the treatment of this invention concurrently with the dyeing of the wool. The following example illustrates treatment of the wool in this way:

The wool, preferably in raw stock form, is immersed in an acid dye-bath and subjected to the normal dyeing operation, in which the bath is brought to the boil and the wool exposed to the action of the hot dye liquor. As the dyeing operation nears completion, that it when only about fifteen mintues more are required to complete the dyeing, a concentrated suspension of hydrated zirconia is added to the bath in an amount and concentration such as to provide in the bath 2. about 21% of hydrated: zirconia, based on; the weight of the-wool.

minutes, during. which timethe wool will absorbv substantially the. entire zirconia content; of the.

bath. If; desired, the hydrated zirconiamaybe. added to the bath before: the wool-is entered or before, the bath, is brought to, the boil. The hy drated: zirconia used in the; present invention is.

compatible with all types of dyes. However, ifthe dye-bath is not acid, an acid should be added theretoprior to or along with. the=addition of the hydrated zirconia.

The duration of the boiling treatment in the presence of the hydrated zirconia. may extend from approximately ldminutes to about an hour.

The amount of thehydrated zirconia present in.

the treating bath may be varied, depending upon the temperature. and the duration of the treatment and upon the extent of the modification de-. sired in the wool. When the treatment is..car-. ried out as a. batch operation, as in the batchprocess described, amounts of hydrated zirconia.

ranging from to 10%, of the Weight of the wool, preferably about 2%, have been found to give good results.

The modification of raw wool stock or the yarn also may be effected by use of a cold acid solution, containing the hydrated zirconia, by allowing the wool to remain standing therein for a suificient period of time. In such case the bath may be substantially exhausted of the hydrated zirconia and the hydrated zirconia may be present in an amount ranging from to 10% 0f the Weight of the wool, preferably about 2%. When about 4 to 10% of hydrated zirconia, based on the wool, is used, exhaustion may be obtained at room temperature in about 48 hours. The same results can be obtained in shorter time by increasing the temperature or the concentration of the bath, preferably the temperature.

When the wool is treated with the hydrated zirconia by the foregoing procedures, the hydrated zirconia is completely or substantially completely exhausted from the treating bath and the amount of the compound absorbed by the Wool is controlled by the amount of compound in the bath.

Another mode of treatment is to treat the wool with the hydrated zirconia as a continuous operation in a moving stream of treating liquid. Thus the wool may be treated as it is subjected to the rinsing operation which normally follows the scouring operation in the preparation of wool fibers for use in pile fabric floor coverings. This The dyeing operation iS, C I1:'- tinued, with boiling of the bath, for about: fifteen.

procedure is particularly useful with wools which are not to be dyed but are to be manufactured into yarn of their natural color. In many cases the rinsing following the scouring operation is carried out with Water at a temperature of about 140-160 F., although rinsing at any temperature between room temperature and the boiling point may be employed. The hydrated zirconia content of the rinse bath should approximate to 10%, preferably about 2%, of the weight of the wool. The wool is passed through the rinsing tank in a continuous operation and the hydrated zirconia therefore must be continually supplied to the tank to maintain the desired concentration of the compound therein. For this purpose any appropriate, constant-rate feeding means may be employed. The pH of the bath should be kept about 3 by the addition of acid.

The treating baths, containing hydrated zirconia, should have a pH value of about 2 to 4.

The wool so treated may be spun into yarn,

which, as Well as yarn so treated, may be then woven as the pile of pile fioor coverings. Such pile has a coarse, harsh texture and lack of lustre very diiferent from the texture and lustre of the untreated wool. The pile of the carpets made with my treated wool has the harshness, coarseness, lack of lustre and plumpness of the coarser wools conventionally used as the pile of pile floor coverings.

My treatment ma be applied to the skeined wool yarn before, during, or after dyeing as well as to the raw stock,

'Wool treated by my process may be mixed with conventional carpet wools in all proportions to give a wool mixture suitable for use in forming the pile of pile-fabric floor coverings.

By the term B. A.-type wool as used herein, I mean W001 having the characteristics of B. A. wool as regards its soft, slippery nature, its lustre and its lack of harshness and fullness as contrasted with the conventional carpet wools. I use the term B. A. wool in its ordinary meaning in 4 the trade, 1. e., wool from the Lincoln-type sheep as grown in South America. The B. A.-type wools available today consist primarily of B. A. W001 and wool from the Lincoln sheep as grown in New Zealand.

This application is a continuation-in-part of m application Serial No. 780,111, filed October 15, 1947, now abandoned, and of my application Serial No. 79,111, filed March 1, 1949 also now abandoned.

Iclaim:

1. The process for enhancing the harshness and fullness and decreasing the lustre of B. A.- type wool which comprises treating the wool with a liquid having a pH of about 2 to 4 and consisting essentially of hydrated zirconia suspended in acidified water in an amount between and 10% by Weight of the wool.

2. The process as in claim 1 in which the wool is immersed in a bath of the treating liquid for from 10 to 60 minutes at the boil.

3. The process as in claim 2 in which lower than boiling temperatures and longer periods of time are used.

STUART E. SWANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,173,195 Krei-dl Feb.,29, 1916 1,173,196 Kreidl Feb. 29, 1916 1,896,381 Weber Feb. 7, 1933 2,424,262 Wainer July 22, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,457 Great Britain 1915 11,055 Great Britain 1910 403,239 Great Britain Dec. 21, 1933 

1. THE PROCESS FOR ENHANCING THE HARSHNESS AND FULLNESS AND DECREASING THE LUSTRE OF B. A.TYPE WOOL WHICH COMPRISES TREATING THE WOOL WITH A LIQUID HAVING A PH OF ABOUT 2 TO 4 AND CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF HYDRATED ZIRCONIA SUSPENDED IN ACIDIFIED WATER IN AN AMOUNT BETWEEN 1/8% AND 10% BY WEIGHT OF THE WOOL. 